A couple desperate to become parents spent £55,000 - and eight years of trying - to have their dream baby.
Joe Thorp, from Addlestone, Surrey, was 39 when she met her partner Tom Legg, then 24, and struggled to fall pregnant naturally after three years.
But despite initially spending around £10,000 of their savings, training manager Joe, now 49, still wasn't pregnant and she and Tom, now 34, were devastated.
Over the next eight years Joe took out two bank loans totalling £45,000 to undergo more fertility treatment, including a further six rounds of IVF and five donor egg cycles.
Joe Thorp, 49, and Tom Legg, 34, from Addlestone, Surrey, spent £55k to have their dream baby Marshall, now 16 months
But despite two positive tests, she suffered two miscarriages both at six weeks pregnant.
The couple were considering adoption until they were informed about Instituto Bernabeu, a fertility clinic in Alicante, Spain.
And thankfully, after two rounds of treatment abroad, Joe fell pregnant with their son Marshall, now 16 months old, with the help of an egg donor.
Joe said: 'I met Tom when I was 39 and he was 24.
We both desperately wanted to have a family, but it was harder than we could ever imagine.
Marshall arrived 11 weeks early after Joe's placenta erupted - causing her to lose two litres of blood
The couple were thrilled to welcome a baby boy after suffering two miscarriages, both at six weeks pregnant, during their fertility journey
'Our only hope left was IVF.
We were on a mission to have a baby and weren't going to let anything stop us from having a family.
'It became evident my own eggs were infertile as the IVF failed twice.
'We were considering adoption until our UK consultant suggested using an egg donor.'
Joe took out two bank loans totalling £45,000 over eight years to undergo fertility treatment, including a further six rounds of IVF and five donor egg cycles
Joe admitted she wasn't keen on the idea at first, but after being informed that two to eight per cent of the DNA would be hers as the baby was growing inside her, she decided to go ahead with it.
'I was thrilled when the fifth round of egg donor ivf medication came back positive,' said Joe.
'Tom was over the moon, he has always wanted to be a dad.
'But at six weeks I miscarried.
It was difficult, but we managed to stay emotionally strong and determined to keep going.'
Joe said it was the best feeling in the world when her pregnancy passed the six week mark
The couple also spent £10,000 of their savings, but say having little Marshall makes every penny spent well worth it